User reviews

Let's start with the acting, absolutely fantastic very likeable characters especially the 2 young leads. The story was predictable but that's Underrated if its predictable and has a happy outcome sometimes that's what we need. Sometimes I love a simple story done beautifully and shot in a beautiful setting. It's so sad that people have become so NEGATIVE that they give a beautiful film like this a 1. Sad!! If you have a family and want to watch a beautiful film its EXTREMELY family friendly. My wife and I saw this together just now and we both have great big smiles...

This was a good movie with a good message. It's geared for a younger/family audience but that's not a bad thing. The movie has a point at the end of it and that's better than most movies these days. Worth watching in my opinion.

In the small town of Pine Mills, Oregon, there is a local legend about a mysterious figure called The Water Man. Gunner Boone is obsessed with death and draws his comic book. His father Amos (David Oyelowo) is often absent and is struggling to reconnect with Gunner. His mom Mary (Rosario Dawson) is sick and his parents are trying to keep it from him. Jim Bussey (Alfred Molina) tells him about The Water Man who may have discovered immortality. He goes searching with help from blue-haired girl Jo who tells stories to little kids for money.

This is David Oyelowo trying his hand at directing. It's fine. It's not anything special but I'm not going to trash it either. It reminds me of Forest Whitaker who also dabbles in directing. There is always the possibility of improvement and I look forward to it. I find this film a little flat. The action scenes need some more kinetic energy. The climax is a little bit anti-climatic. The story is relatively straight forward with the gentlest of twists and turns. All in all, this is professional work for Oyelowo's first effort.

Our society has become so negative. Just read a few of the reviews that knock this movie, many of them don't actually say anything they just want to prevent others from seeing it. Why? That is so non-productive.

It is a simple story but focuses on a mythical figure, a man who apparently survived a devastating flood, and it is believed a mineral he found in a mine allows him to live forever. They call him the Water Man. The boy hopes that if he finds him then he can help cure his sick mom. So he, and a new friend, a teenage girl, trek off into the Oregon wilderness to find the Water Man.

My wife and I enjoyed it at home on DVD from our public library. While it won't ever be considered a "don't miss" movie it certainly has enough good qualities that it is entertaining.

This is basically a Disney-like story with a dying parent, an innocent child on a quest, and a strong morale towards the end. People here are harsh in their reviews, but it's a nice sunday night movie for 8 year olds. My kids weren't too bothered by the slight plot holes, but liked the adventure, the idea of the water man and what he turns out to be.

This is my kind of movie. Child escapism movies mixing with fantasy is where my heart is. I will re-watch The Neverending Story, Mio in the Land of Faraway and Bridge To Terabithia any day of the week. I hold those movies in my top 10 of the best movies ever made.

But this movie doesn't close the deal. It's never truly fantastical or emotional or magical. It has the ingredients but it doesn't take me away on a magical journey.

I had high hopes for this movie.

I wish it had delivered.

It's a new family movie on Netflix; the plot is decent and the performances are passable; David Oyelowo has a lot of potential as a new film director.

Some tension, but very little actual excitement. Feels like the script was written by an AI who was made to read a bunch of thriller and family-friendly movie scripts then write its own without being told the difference between the two genres. The climax and resolution are disappointing and confusing.

I don't recommend this movie for anyone. I will say that the acting was just fine (which is why I'm giving it more than one star), but I can't figure out what the writer/director were thinking. I wish I'd had the guts to go ask for my money back.

In this film the story develops a reflection on how we see death and what we think when we know that someone important to us is going to die.

With a pretty good script, it manages to tell us the story in a subtle way, with an unexpected outcome, it manages to expose the message of taking advantage of the time we have to be with the people we love. It has good acting, good visuals, good photography, and good character development. Although the way the story is told may seem a bit slow, it works to understand what each of the characters feel without falling into cheap sentimentality.

With some situations that happen at the precise moment, the film has a good balance between comedy, drama and fantasy, this film is worth seeing.

But I found it to be boring and confusing. I don't what direction was going, it was all over the place.

We have two children, ages 7 and 11, and am always looking for PG (not PG-13) rated family movies.

I was drawn to this movie because the actors, and they were fabulous.

I thought the violence at the end/climax should be less for PG, but other than that, I was really happy with this movie.

Thank God someone is still trying to make good PG movies!

Though it's a little murky towards the end, The Water Man tackles a hard subject (death) from a young man's perspective. On a quest for hope and a cure for his mom, he searches out the truth of The Water Man legend.

Gave this a shot based on a few high ratings. Wish I hadn't!

Story is poor. Lacklustre. No content. The music used to build attempted tension awful.

Just so so bad. Don't waste your time.

This is a story about a boy trying to find a magical cure for his mother's illness. It's not a fantastical film, it's just about how he grows to understand what the situation is and come to terms with it. Is it terribly captivating? Not really. It is emotional, but not greatly so. It is with children, but they are not particularly cute or intelligent or interesting. I think it will click a lot with people who have lost someone dear or who live with sickness in the family, but it's not that accessible to others.

Perhaps the worse thing about this film is how it used the cast to pull you in a story that doesn't really use them. You see a bit of Rosario Dawson and some glimpses of Alfred Molina and Maria Bello, even when they are the three top billed actors in the cast. Shame! Because the only people you spend time with are the two kids and bit with the boy's father. Special appearance for the character of the librarian, real life wife of the actor who plays the father.

So it could have been better and they had to resort to cast baiting to get people to watch. That doesn't make it bad, just a less than satisfactory approach. Also, it's a bit niche.

Bottom line: it's a childhood drama film. Many out there which are better and more honest.

Watched with the family after a stunning review on the one show and was sorely disappointed. A waste of 90 minutes of my life. Unimpressed. 2 stars because some of the acting was actually great. The actual storyline and delivery however was such a let down and we spent the entire film waiting for something to happen and then it just ended.

Even though it has its moments of magic and adventour to make a grumpy oldtory to the end. Its not hereby said that it is a gold nugget, rather a piece of obsidian of nno further value for the real squemmish. The idea is great but its a mixed experience considering acting quality and the way its stiched together, and looses a lot of its credibility and coherence when closing up to the end.

Its a sad family story indeed, and the undertoone of loss, grief and fright lingers all the way as the film developes. A lonely kid, with an angry father and a terminally ill mother should give some idea. Its also a story about the waterman, a cascadian legend about the ghost of a man searching for his fe, and the fact that this person has the power of immortality makes the kid go bananas in the oregonian wildernesss in the search for a cure to help his mother.

Having said this, i can give you at least 45 minutes of well worth time spent moviewatching, the rest and where it is i wont tellil warm some hearts, award the adventourous and the green enthusiasts and may make some people cry from the hope and the loss. Technically its a well made film a well executed special effects quality, the flames look real and the animatronix are pretty vivid and exciting. Its not a must see film, more a should see film is the final statement from the GOM.

You know those movies that slog along promising a big reveal and never deliver. Well here you go. If you can't sleep ....

The acting and the power of hope is in full effect in this film. No killing, drugs, sex and was still an enjoyable flick. It's worth the rental or price of a matinee ticket for sure.

A very annoying young boy with a vivid imagination, his sick mother, his father who had somewhat zero patience with him (can't say that I blame him) and his the white girlfriend (literal friend and nothing more) abused by her dad and the quest for the waterman to save his sick mother. Gunner (the young boy) got on my damn nerve the entire film with all his whining and crying and being nerdy, that his role took away from his quest of finding the waterman. No boldness, no confidence ever displayed or acquired and it was annoying. Dude never grew a pair for the whole duration film. I think with a better character than Gunner, the film would have been more enjoyable.

Gunner Boone is a boy living in the Pacific North West; his mother is suffering from leukaemia and he would do anything to save her. His family is fairly new to the town and it isn't long before he hears the legend of 'The Water Man'; an old miner who gained immortality after discovering a strange stone just before a flood washed away the town... now he is rumoured to spend his time searching the forests for his lost wife. Gunner hear a girl named Jo telling a story of how she crossed paths with the Water Man and has the scar to prove it. She offers to take Gunner to him, for a price. They head into the forest together and soon Gunner's father realises he is missing; the sense of urgency increases when a forest fire is reported.

I thought this film was a real delight. The central theme of a boy's desperate hope to help his mother and his father's search for him is heart-warming without ever feeling mawkish. The story moves at a good pace; early on we are introduced to Gunner and his family, the legend of The Water Man and to Jo; this nicely sets things up for the adventure when Gunner and Jo head into the Forest; here they encounter some dangers which are likely to put the viewer slightly on edge even though we know it is unlikely that anything really bad will happen. Without going into spoilers I know some viewers are likely to be somewhat disappointed at how the story finishes; personally I really liked it. The cast does an impressive job; notably Lonnie Chavis and Amiah Miller as Gunner and Jo and Rosario Dawson and David Oyelowo as his mother and father. Some reviewers have commented on how good it is to have a family film with a black lead; I certainly don't disagree but think it is perhaps more important that race is never an issue in the film. It is important that some films address the subject of racism but it is just as important that there are films where a characters race doesn't matter for the story. The film's setting is fairly stunning thanks to the forest and impressive landscapes. As well as doing a fine job acting David Oyelowo impresses in his directorial debut. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting a good family film with some adventure.

Not quite enough substance here for me, but it's pretty entertaining nonetheless.

Despite a very likable main character, the writing and execution were just too weak to make an entertaining movie :-(

This movie do became cheap at some places but overall it was not really bad. I honestly enjoyed it. Characters were also good. Twists in this movie weren't so good but wasn't bad too. So the movie was really good and worth to watch cuz of its acting which was good and also cuz of its story. But I really dont like its end. Yeah it was a moral ending with perfect statement foe humans of this time but it wasn't good for this movie. It do ruin everything. Because of ending everything on which this movie was based was proven imaginary and and fake so it means there was no use of anything that they do. But still atlast I'll say its worth to watch.